Investigation of higher education dropout risk factors among students studying in vocational graduate training

Abstract

According to some of the international research dealing with the transition from vocational training to higher education, the presence of students from vocational training in higher education significantly contributes to the broadening and expansion of higher education, however, these student groups are most likely to be more disadvantaged from a socio-economic point of view than those following the academic path (Katartzi and Hayward , 2019; Shields and Masardo 2015). At the same time, we also find literature that states that vocational training reduces the chances of entering higher education (Arum and Shavit, 1995). Furthermore, the dropout rate of those coming from vocational training is significantly higher than that of their peers from general upper secondary schools who are already preparing for higher education (Hayward and Hoelscher 2011; Katartzi and Hayward, 2019). In our work, we examine students who are about to graduate and who have already graduated and are staying for the technician year studying in the vocational training leading to the high school diploma. We are looking for an answer to what risk factors we can identify at the moment of applying to higher education, which may force students to leave higher education without obtaining a diploma during their academic studies. The data was collected in the form of an online questionnaire, a total of 1,852 students in vocational education leading to a high school diploma participated in the measurement. Our results show that dropout risk factors can be identified even before applying to higher education.